Mail-bag-delivery apparatus.



PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

I M. J. FINN" MAIL BAG DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 30,1905.

fwenlfoz WWI wows Patented May 23, 1905.

. PATENT OFFICE.

MATTHEW J. FINN, OF BURKES STATION, VIRGINIA.

MAlL-BAG-DELIVERY APPARATUS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,567, dated May 23, 1905.

Application filed March 30, 1905. Serial No. 252,954.

To It whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHEW J. FINN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Burkes construction and reliable in operation and is adapted to handle bags of mail-matter in such manner as to preclude damage to the bags.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the relative arrangement of the ground devices and the cardevices, of my improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail side elevation illustrative of one of the bag-holders comprised in mynovel apparatus,-a nd Fig. 3 is an inverted plan viewv of the said holder.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts inall of the views of the drawings, referring to which- A is a mail-car which may be and preferably is of the conventional construction, and B and C are mail-bag-delivery devices carried by the car.

As shown in Fig. 1, the device B is made up of a rod (4, fixed at its opposite ends to the car-body at opposite sides of the door-opening 6 and having a fixed shoulder or abutment 0 at an intermediate point of its length, a fork d, loosely mounted on said rod a so as to move in the direction of the length thereof and also swing vertically and having a bagretaining arm a and a counterbalance-weight f and a coiled spring 9 surrounding the rod a and interposed between the abutment c and the fork (2, so as to cushion the said fork and take up shock and jar when the same engages a mail-bag held by one of the ground devices in the manner hereinafter set forth. The arm e of the fork d pivoted to the fork and is preferably controlled by a spring, so as to normally restin and return to the position illustrated. From this it follows that when a bag of mail-matter is received in the fork the arm a will give rearwardly, so as to enable the contracted portion of the bag to enter the bight of the fork, and will then reassume its normal position, and thereby preclude casual disengagement of the bag from the fork. The counterbalance-weight f is designed to assist the railway-mail clerk in the car in putting and retaining the fork in the proper position (shown in Fig. 1) to take a bag of mail-matter from a complementary ground device.

The car device C (shown in Fig. 1) is made up of upper and lower horizontally-swinging arms h and 7a,'pivoted to the car-body, so as to move outwardly and inwardly through the door-opening b, and bag-holders carried by the said arms and disposed on the opposed sides thereof. The arms 7L and is are each preferably formed of a body of wood or other suitable material and a flat metallic bar fixed to and extending outwardly from the said body and provided with four (more or less) apertured lugs l. The bag-holders complementary to the arms h and 7a are identical in construction, and therefore a detailed description of the holder shown in Figs. 2 and 3 will suffice to impart an exact understanding of both holders. The said holder, Figs. 2 and 3, comprises bolts m, guided in pairs of lugs Z on its complementary arm and having inner,

converging, and meeting portions oz, coiled springs 0 surrounding the bolts between the lugs Z and interposed between the outer lugs and enlargements a" on the bolts, and a fingerpiece 8 connected to one of the bolts and disposed and adapted to move to and fro in a slot t in the metallic bar.

.with'the bag-holders on the arms, after the manner shown, after which the arms hand 79 and the bag are swung from the interior of IOO the car through the door-opening I) to the position illustrated in Fig. 1.- It will be apparent from the foregoing that the strap-loops on the bag may be readily engaged with the holders when one of the bolts of each holder is retracted through the medium of its fingerpieee s, and it will also be apparent that when the strap-loops of the bag are in the holders, as shown in Fig. 1, there is absolutely no liability of the bag being accidentally released from the holders and permitted to fall. While this is so, it. will be noted that when the intermediate portion of the bag is engaged and moved in the direction indicated by the small arrow in Fig. 1 the bolts m of the holders will permit the strap-loops of the bag to pass between their inner ends, and this without cutting or otherwise impairing the said straploops. From this it follows that the specific holders contribute materially to the reliability of the apparatus and at the same time prolong the usefulness of the bags by preventing damage thereto.

With a view of preventing the device C from casually swinging inward when said device is placed in the position shown in Fig. 1, I provide the trailing arm C, which is pivoted to the arm 7: so as to swing vertically, and has its free end pointed, whereby it is adapted in the event of the device C tending to swing, inwardly to dig into the car-floor and prevent such casual movement of said device C. By virtue of the trailing and gravitating arm C it will be observed that accidental movement of the device 0 from the position shown in Fig. 1 is effectually prevented, and yet when it is desired to swing said device 0 into the car the same may be quickly and easily accomplished after the free end of the arm 0 is lifted out of engagement with the car-floor.

D is a crane disposed on the ground at one side of the railway and designed to deliver bags of mail-matter to the device B on the car, and E is a device also located on the ground and positioned to take a bag of mail-matter from the device 0 of the car. As shown at the right of Fig. l, the crane D is made up of an upright 01, an upper arm w, arranged to swing vertically and provided with the conventional counterbalance-weight, which I have deemed it unnecessary to illustrate, and a lower arm in, pivoted to the upright o and arranged to swing vertically, so as to lie against the side of the said upright '0 when not in use. Like the arms of the car deviceC the arms of the ground device or crane D, respectively,

comprise a body of wood and a bar of metal, the bar of metal being provided with lugs Z, bolts on, springs p, and finger-pieces s, similar to those shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and before set forth in the detailed description of the said car device O.

The device E comprises a fixed upright y, a rod z, fixed thereto, a fork a, loosely mounted on said rod and arranged to swing vertically and move on the rod in the direction of the length thereof, and a coiled spring 7/, mounted on the rod and interposed between the fork and the upright ;I and designed to cushion the fork and take up the shock and jar incident to the fork engaging the mail-bag in the car device C. The fork a is provided with a counterbalance-weightc, which is preferably adjustable, as shown, and is also provided with an arm a, which is similar in construction to the arm a of fork (Z and is designed to serve the same function as that ascribed to said arm 0.

In the practical use of my improvements a mail-bag to be delivered from the car to the ground is placed in the car device C, and the ground device E, or rather the fork thereof, is positioned, as shown, to engage the bag, while a mail-bag to be delivered from the ground to the car is arranged in the ground device D, and the car device B is positioned as shown, to take the latter bag.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that notwithstanding the simplicity of my improvements the same may be depended on to transfer mail-bags from the ground to moving cars or from the ears to the ground without in any way injuring the bags or the contents thereof.

I have specifically described the construction and relative arrangement of the parts included in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a definite understanding of the said embodiment. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to the said specific construction and relative arrangement of parts. as such modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my invention as claimed.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a mail-bag-delivery apparatus, a bagholder comprising asuitable support, and endwise-movable, spring-pressed bolts mounted in guides on the support and having eonverging end portions normally bearing against each other.

2. In a mail-bag-dclivery apparatus, a bagholder comprising a suitable support, and endwise-movable, spring-pressed bolts mounted in guides on'the support and having inner, converging end portions normally bearing against each other; one of the said bolts also having a finger-piece movable in a guideway in the support.

8. In a mail-bag-delivery apparatus, the combination of upper and lower arms and bagholders complementary to said arms; the said bag-holders respectively comprising endwisemovable, spring-pressed bolts having inner, converging end portions normally bearing against each other.

4:. In' a mail-bag-delivery' apparatus, the combination with lower and upper arms having metallic bars provided with apertured lugs, and bag-holders complementary to said arms; the said bag-holders respectively comprising endwise-movable bolts guided in the lugs and having inner, converging end portions normally bearing against each other, and springs backing the bolts and interposed between enlargements thereon and lugs.

5. In a mail-bag-delivery apparatus, the combination with lower and upper arms having metallic bars provided with apertured lugs and longitudinal slots, and bag-holders complementary to said arms; the said bag-holders respectively comprising endwise movable bolts guided in the lugs andhaving inner, converging end portions normally bearing against each other; one of the said bolts also having a finger-piece movable in the slot of the arm on which it is carried, and springs backing the bolts and interposed between enlargements thereon and lugs.

6. In a mail-bag-delivery apparatus, the combination of a car having a door-opening, a device mounted on the car in position to swing horizontally through the door-opening thereof and provided with means for holding a bag,

and a trailing arm pivoted to the device and arranged. to swing vertically 1n rear of the same, and also arranged to engage the floor of the car with a view of preventing casual inward movement of the device.

7. In a mail-bag-delivery apparatus, the combination of a car, lower and upper, horizontally-swinging arms carried by the car, a stationary crane having upper and lower arms, bag-holders complementary tothe several arms mentioned; the said bag-holders respectively comprising endwise-movable, springpressed bolts having inner converging end portions normally bearing against each other, a fork carried by the car and arranged to take a bag from the crane and having means for retaining the bag, and a stationary fork arranged on the ground in position to take a bag from the arms on the car, and also having means for retainingithe bag so taken.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MATTHEW J. FINN.

Witnesses:

JAMES ADAMS, E. P. HARRISON. 

